Dorothy Shea, the acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said on Tuesday that the Syrian government, as a first order of business, ought to “begin discussions with Israel on a non-aggression agreement and subsequently begin border dispute resolution discussions.”
Addressing a U.N. Security Council meeting on the political and humanitarian situations in Syria, Shea said the Trump administration’s process for lifting sanctions on Damascus has already had a noticeable impact, including a $7 billion power-sector investment deal inked among U.S., Qatari and Turkish firms.
“We encourage other member states to provide similar sanctions relief and to support recovery and reconstruction,” Shea told the council.
She noted the actions that Ahmed al-Sharaa’s new government in Syria has taken on “critical files like the search for missing persons and the destruction of chemical weapons.” That progress should set expectations for what comes next, including a peace and border demarcation agreement with Israel, she said.
Successive Israeli governments have made clear that they have no intention of surrendering the Israeli Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the defensive 1967 Six-Day War.
As the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad fell apart late last year, Israeli troops moved further into Syrian territory, fearful of possible chaos breaking out at the border and of the intentions of al-Sharaa, who remains on the U.S.-designated terrorist list.
An Israeli military presence has remained several miles deep into Syria.
Shea stressed that al-Sharaa’s government “should take necessary steps to ban and deport Palestinian terror groups,” as well as cooperate with relevant agencies on chemical and nuclear-weapons issues.
With American backing and to Israel’s chagrin, Turkey has assumed a prominent role in Syria with Assad’s fall, but al-Sharaa’s government has appeared open to peace with Israel. At the same time, it has taken heat from some Arab governments for allowing the Jewish state to use its skies to attack Iran and for opting not to criticize that operation or other Israeli military activity within Syria’s borders.
“Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity must be respected,” Najat Rochdi, U.N. deputy special envoy for Syria, told the Security Council. “Diplomacy is possible and must be prioritized.”
